Wilson did not practice this week as he has a hip issue. He may have taken the injury last game as he crashed into New England Patriots punter Zoltan Mesko. The Dolphins had forced a Pats punt, but Wilson went flying through the air and crashed into Mesko after Mesko got the punt off. I expected a POW or BANG to appear on the screen as Wilson looked like 1960’s Adam West-era Batman flying through the air to deliver a blow to an evildoer. A 15 yard personal foul penalty was assessed (automatic 1st down) and then seven plays later, Tom Brady found Wes Welker, a 7-3 game became 14-3 and the Pats did not look back.

Special teams is not the only area that Wilson has had issues with in 2012. His defensive-back skills have been shoddy, to put it mildly. Opposing quarterbacks are putting up massive numbers when they throw at Wilson. The Dolphins are thin at the defensive-backs position, so despite Wilson’s struggles, he may be missed if he does not play on Sunday. Word is he did make the six hour trip to San Francisco.

The one thing that Wilson does bring to the table is the respect of his teammates. This is a guy who has beat a murder charge – twice. In 2007 Wilson shot and killed his aunt’s boyfriend. There was never a question about that and his defense was self-defense. The first trial ended with a hung jury while the second trial ended with Wilson being acquitted as his lawyer convinced the second jury that Wilson indeed acted in self defense.

Living through a pair of murder trials gives Wilson rare perspective of how precious life is and what an honor and privilege it is to make your living as a pro football player. That makes his attitude the kind that players migrate to. He is not a leader through his play, but he is a leader off the field.

Wilson covers slot wide receivers. The 49ers target Mario Manningham in the slot often, so whoever does play will have his hands full. The Niners run the football extremely well, but their coach is a former NFL quarterback (Jim Harbaugh) who will know how to exploit a match-up in the passing game that he likes.

If Wilson cannot play on Sunday, then we will see Bryan McCann (McCann replaced Wilson in the Patriots game). Miami also has R.J. Stanford and Michael Coe as options to cover the slot.